Who Do I Have To Become?

One of the most essential self-leadership questions you can ask yourself is: “Who do I have to become?” Because, see, what got you here won't get you there. So, you'll have to confront the parts of you that aren't coming with you.

Here’s how I did it.

When I was waiting tables in my early 20s, I wanted to be a bartender, so I started playing the role by thinking how a bartender would, watching them, learning from them, networking with them, asking my boss for a chance, and taking on that persona even when I was a server.

Then, I became a bartender.

As a bartender, I wanted a job with benefits, an office, and regular hours, so I started thinking like someone who worked in an office would. I attended networking events in the community, asked my bar regulars about their work, put myself out there, prioritized job searching, and modified my hours at the bar to create the bandwidth to find a job.

Then, I became a sales manager at my first hotel.

When I was in sales, I wanted to climb the ladder, so I started acting like a National Sales Manager would. I took on extra work, made my boss's life easier, spoke up first in meetings, contributed, shared articles, mentored others, volunteered, sat on boards, and won awards.

Then, I got promoted to National Sales and moved to Chicago.

When I was in National Sales, I knew deep down I wanted to become a professional speaker, so I started acting as if by speaking on panels and breakout sessions at our industry events, networking in the speaking community, watching other speakers, reading books, taking courses, hiring coaches, and saving money every month to fund the dream.

Then, I became a full-time keynote speaker.

Once I started speaking, I knew I wanted to write a book, so I stepped into an author's mindset. I started reading books about writing, studying the publishing industry, researching publishers, taking courses, asking for introductions, and setting money aside to fund the project.

Then, I became an author.

You can have anything you want, but it will cost you who you are now.

This self-leadership mindset can be applied to any goal, from finding love to having kids to taking more vacations to living debt-free to retirement.

Who do you have to become to get what you want?

When you have that answer, go HOLLER at it.